Monday, May 16, 2016

I'm excited and honored to announce that my novella, ALL IS MERRI AND BRIGHT, has been nominated for a Rone Award by InD'Tale magazine. Because I'm so excited, I'm going to give away an ebook of my latest novella, LOSING INDEPENDENCE, and an audiobook copy of SHADOW OF A LIFE.

I would appreciate any and all votes for ALL IS MERRI AND BRIGHT. To vote, pop on over to InD'Tale, sign up, and vote for your favorite. (Hopefully it's mine!)

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Growing up, my mom made all of our bread. Each Saturday she'd make six loaves of the deliciousness. If she bought something from the store, it grew green-stuff-that-shall-not-be-named before anyone ate it. To this day, she still makes all her bread and I get warm memories just thinking about the wonderful smell it created in our home.

I think of myself as a decent baker, but for some reason, I've never been able to perfect Mom's bread recipe. (I'll blame it on differences in elevation. Cough...cough...) Since Lauren's mom in Losing Independence makes a ton of bread, too, I decided to share a recipe I adapted that DOES work for me. I don't make bread every time we run out, but when I do, I double the recipe and make 4 loaves. They freeze well and my kids love the bread for sandwiches and toast. Enjoy!

Tifani's Easy White Bread

Makes 2 loaves

1 ½ cups warm water 1 heaping tablespoon instant yeast

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 cups flour

In a large bowl (or mixer with dough hook), add all ingredients in the order listed. Mix well. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead until elastic. Put dough back in bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place for 40-45 minutes. Divide the dough into two halves and shape into two loaves. Place dough in bread pans and let rise until double in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Note #1: If you have a bread machine, use the dough setting to make the dough, and then shape into two loaves and bake as directed.Note #2: Never shaped bread loaves before? Here's a picture tutorial of how it's done. First, roll the dough into a rectangle with the shorter side being approximately the width of your bread pan. While you're rolling, make sure you are eliminating bubbles in the dough. Next, roll the rectangle up, starting with the shorter side, and pinch the dough together. Last, pinch the sides down and plop it into your pan.